Healthcare providers, such as surgeons, hospitals, and the like, typically must keep a broad selection of orthopaedic implant types and sizes in on-site inventories to ensure that the proper orthopaedic implant is available for a given orthopaedic surgical procedure. In addition, when the healthcare provider orders an orthopaedic implant from an orthopaedic implant manufacturer or distributor, the healthcare provider typically must order a broad selection of orthopaedic implant types and sizes.
Similarly, orthopaedic implant manufacturers and/or distributors typically must stock the complete line of orthopaedic implant types and sizes at each distribution center across a geographical region to ensure that the desired orthopaedic implants are available. As such, some orthopaedic implant manufacturers and/or distributors may stock large numbers of orthopaedic implant types and sizes even though some of the orthopaedic implant types and sizes may not be in high demand.